In which we did a lot of things that weren’t necessarily necessary 🌳

FROM THE ARCHIVES

What’s next?

Where do we start?

Both of these were good questions. Neither of which we could really answer yet.1

So here’s what we did since we pottered around on the mower:

• Planted a Victoria Plum tree in the orchard

• Crafted a compost heap out of sycamore poles and sycamore twigs (see below)2

• Removed approximately 3,265 stinging nettles from the steps up into the dingle

• Tidied the front flowerbeds and admired the tulips

• Disturbed two disgruntled bumblebees

• Mowed the lawn again

• Plotted the death of the courtyard weeds

• Ripped all the benches and train set remnants out of the attic3

• Taken a delivery of wood

• Mowed the lawn again

• Drank some beer

• Wandered around the woodland with our ecologist friends, who pointed out all the interesting flora and fauna

• Erected a slackline in the orchard

And we did a lot of thinking. And took advice from other denizens of the village, who were a few years further on than we are in the house project arena, which included living in the place for at least a couple of months before making any big decisions. I think that was a good idea.

My modus operandi is to rush into things enthusiastically and without much thought, so I’m quite impressed that this time, we’re taking our time. Not that we had the cash to rush into too much anyway, but still.

Thinking is good.

So, decided to plant a couple more fruit trees and start laying out vegetable beds, then get the place ready for the chickens.

Less scary attic

Now the attic was empty, that started looking like a less scary project, too – so we decided to start up there before too long, take the cladding down from the ceiling, inspect the roof, and make the walls a bit less gappy. Oh, and maybe put another window in up there, because although the space is huge, it’s a bit dark.

Oh, and when the Rayburn is fixed (we met a chap in the pub who’s doing a proper job on it) we’ll sort out the stone bedroom. Which means putting the original window back, putting a new floor down, and stripping all the shite off the walls and plasterboard off the ceiling.4

Watch this space…

And smile at our cute little plum tree 🙂